Switched capacitor regulators are a well-known class of regulator that can be used to regulate voltage or current. In many existing switched capacitor regulators, a network of switches in the regulators switch the regulators between two states. The output voltage or the output current of such regulators can be regulated by adjusting the frequency at which the regulators switch between states. However, changing the switching frequency can be prohibitive in electronic devices that are sensitive to electromagnetic interference (EMI). For example, mobile phones have strict specifications on EMI because too much EMI can affect call quality and wireless data transfer, and mobile phone engineers often need to adjust the operating frequency of various chips to prevent them from interfering with the key communication signals to ensure call quality does not degrade. To meet the strict EMI specification, the SC regulator might need to operate at a predictable, single switching frequency. In this case, the SC regulator cannot adjust the switching frequency to regulate the output voltage.
Accordingly, new mechanisms for regulating the output of switched capacitor regulators are desirable.